Standalone Outlook Sync - No debate, just solutions

[ygohome]

The Missing Synch does look like a good solution.

They say they do not support Android 2.0 or Motorola Droid phones yet... but they say it will soon.

I'll wait till they get to their version 2.0. As of now their beta doesn't sync outlook calendar... only contacts. I will watch their website closely for updates.

Thanks!

Ben

 

[pseyler]

I don't know if you solved your problem already, but from the web address, it appears that your college is using an Exchange server. The same folks who gave you that login string can give you the username, password, etc. You enter those at the prompts.. I think there's another thread here that discusses linking with Exchange.

 

[pseyler]

Regarding sync solutions - I tried companion link and found it a bit unpredictable. It pulled notes and tasks from outlook and added them to my gmail/phone account, but then the notes would show up back in outlook as new contacts. Then they would be exported back to Gmail as new contacts, and the cycle would continue. Sometimes they would appear 4 or 5 times each. If you have lots of notes, it can get ugly.

 

[JimmyD]

I'm glad I found this thread!

I already use Google Calendar Sync to have my Outlook and Google calendars automatically synced up every 2 hours. It's working well.

For syncing Outlook contacts, I think I'm going to give that Go Contact Sync program a try before paying for Companion Sync.

HERE'S MY QUESTION.....
In order to avoid duplicating contacts, would it make sense for me to:
1) export all of my Outlook contacts into a CSV file,
2) then import the CSV contact file into Google contacts,
2.5) clean up all my contacts in Google that need deleting or updating
3) then delete all of my Outlook contacts,
4) then sync up (one way at first from Google to Outlook) using Go Contact Sync.

That's my plan... do those steps above seem feasible?

Any further insight or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[pseyler]

You mentioned using Google Contacts as your "master" contact list. I'd have a couple of reservations about that:

• First, Google Contacts don't separate first and last name. For the life of me I can't figure out why they would build in such an obvious limitation. The Droid native contacts app DOES have first and last name fields, but when you pass your contacts through Google, they get merged unreliably. Then when they get to Outlook, if you correct them, they sometimes get passed back as a new contact and voila, you have two contacts for the same person.
• There are other fields in the Outlook contact (Birthdays, etc.) that don't exist in the Gmail contact. I'm not quite ready to kiss that information goodbye, or have it dumped in some "miscellaneous" field where I can't get it back.

Good luck

 

[takeshi]

What was the guy in the Verizon store talking about?

Never assume that the store reps know what they're talking about. I don't care who your carrier is. If the person knew that stuff he/she wouldn't be working in a wireless carrier's store.

 

[texasPI]

Has anyone looked at the touchdown app? Has an option for using usb cable to sync contacts, tasks etc. I'm on a demo version now so not too familiar with it yet.

 

[Booch_21]

I purchased my phone on Saturday and after researching here, for me, I got CompanionLink. I am using Google Calendar because its just easier to use the standard calendar in the phone instead of CL Calendar. I do use the USB sync for Outlook contacts and that worked without any issues at all. I like that the contacts are last name, first name. $40.00 may sound steep, but for me, having the ability to use the phone for what I'm used to it is important enough to spend the money. I came from a Moto Q and want that same level of ease. There are a few extra steps, but nothing that won't become very routine.

 

[Aximtreo]

I purchased my phone on Saturday and after researching here, for me, I got CompanionLink. I am using Google Calendar because its just easier to use the standard calendar in the phone instead of CL Calendar. I do use the USB sync for Outlook contacts and that worked without any issues at all. I like that the contacts are last name, first name. $40.00 may sound steep, but for me, having the ability to use the phone for what I'm used to it is important enough to spend the money. I came from a Moto Q and want that same level of ease. There are a few extra steps, but nothing that won't become very routine.

When using companionlink, are you getting the duplicate contacts others have mentioned. I tried the trial version and it duplicated everything including calendar appts. etc. It took me a couple of hours deleting all the dupes. This seems such a pita.

 

[Booch_21]

When using companionlink, are you getting the duplicate contacts others have mentioned. I tried the trial version and it duplicated everything including calendar appts. etc. It took me a couple of hours deleting all the dupes. This seems such a pita.

I did not. I had a couple of contact entries get slightly altered (Al turned into Alabama) which I don't know why yet. I have some duplicates from Google Calendar which is not using CL. I'll look at that later today.

I'll be resyncing contacts this evening. I'm not anticipating a problem, but will report if I do.

 

[fallsgable]

I was very upset that Google Calendar Sync did NOT sync tasks...and there was really no app that did.
My best friend from High School is a VP of market development at Google, and he was on the East Coast last week, and I met him at the Google offices in NYC.
I showed him the problem, and after we went through the Marketplace, and were satisfied that NO app really does the job, he video conferenced in someone in "The Lab" area, and we discussed it further.
He said that there is some sort of compatability issue with the way Outlook handles tasks, and How to "Pull" them to the cloud, and down to the Droid. soething with the formatting and the way they are recognized.
He DID agree that an app could be formatted to handle it, and that he would look into it.

For now, I just use the regular Calendar app, and create tasks as events with reminders. I uses the Calwidget app from the market, it has a nice widget that is very configurable, and lots of sizes to choose from, and shows several days on it, with each days events...and I can see my tasks as they come up each day...
it has been working for me, because I can see both my actual events and tasks by day...on the widget....
all I have for now!

:icon_ banana:

 

[Booch_21]

As a follow up to my message earlier, CompanionLink issued an update today. The update streamlined the multi-step process. I basically plug in the USB to the phone, load up CL USB Sync and press "Sync". It does the computer setup, asks for me to unplug the USB and hit "Sync" again to do the update of contacts, calendar, tasks and memos. This has reduced the steps a bit.

One thing that did happen, I got 64 "new" entries in the contact list. These were duplications that were not there before. They also appeared in Outlook, so that is where I deleted them from. Everything is fine now and appears to be working ok. Not sure at what point the duplicates were put on there, but I'm guessing it may have been from the first sync after the update.

I'm still impressed with the program and, even through the initial quirks, will highly recommend it.

 

[JimmyD]

You mentioned using Google Contacts as your "master" contact list. I'd have a couple of reservations about that:

• First, Google Contacts don't separate first and last name. For the life of me I can't figure out why they would build in such an obvious limitation. The Droid native contacts app DOES have first and last name fields, but when you pass your contacts through Google, they get merged unreliably. Then when they get to Outlook, if you correct them, they sometimes get passed back as a new contact and voila, you have two contacts for the same person.
• There are other fields in the Outlook contact (Birthdays, etc.) that don't exist in the Gmail contact. I'm not quite ready to kiss that information goodbye, or have it dumped in some "miscellaneous" field where I can't get it back.

Good luck

All excellent points! I'll have to rethink my strategy now. :huh:

 

[SSHGuru]

That's why I never had a task list using outlook before - an event can do the same thing.

I rarely used memo's either.

So I'm pretty happy with the way the calender sync's OTA every 2 hours.

I was very upset that Google Calendar Sync did NOT sync tasks...and there was really no app that did.
My best friend from High School is a VP of market development at Google, and he was on the East Coast last week, and I met him at the Google offices in NYC.
I showed him the problem, and after we went through the Marketplace, and were satisfied that NO app really does the job, he video conferenced in someone in "The Lab" area, and we discussed it further.
He said that there is some sort of compatability issue with the way Outlook handles tasks, and How to "Pull" them to the cloud, and down to the Droid. soething with the formatting and the way they are recognized.
He DID agree that an app could be formatted to handle it, and that he would look into it.

For now, I just use the regular Calendar app, and create tasks as events with reminders. I uses the Calwidget app from the market, it has a nice widget that is very configurable, and lots of sizes to choose from, and shows several days on it, with each days events...and I can see my tasks as they come up each day...
it has been working for me, because I can see both my actual events and tasks by day...on the widget....
all I have for now!

:icon_ banana:

 

[MNTNBKR]

I had a couple of contact entries get slightly altered (Al turned into Alabama) which I don't know why yet.

Droid just does that sometimes. It has turned Andy into Andrew in my phone, and I've heard other people complain about similar situations. I don't know if there's a way to stop this behavior or not.